Interview with Colleen Anderson
 1) Are you primarily a poet, or do you write other things?
I am, primarily, a writer. I write fiction and poetry though my first professional sale was in poetry so I have been writing that longer if I disregard the beginnings of a novel I wrote in grade 10. I write mostly speculative fiction but also have published mainstream, erotica and articles as well. I have far more poems than stories written but word wise, the fiction wins.
2) Tell us about your other writing projects. What are you working on now?
I’m working on a first draft of a novel, medieval otherworld fantasy with three races; several short stories, which are actually SF though I write more dark fantasy, and a collection of poems called A Compendium of Witches. These will be about witches, with a Canadian twist but it’s going slow.
3) Who are your favorite authors? In particular, do you have a favorite who is under appreciated that we should check out?
Old time is Theodore Sturgeon and Dylan Thomas, and current faves are Neal Stephenson, Sandra Kasturi for poetry, and the Careys for their book The Steel Seraglio. I adored that book. It’s so lush and full of stories within stories. It’s like the Canterbury Tales, Shaharazad, Arabian Nights and several cautionary tales wrapped up in silk and jewels and sand.
4) What are you reading now?
I’m reading several collections by Canadian authors that I highly recommend. I just finished Over the Darkened Landscape by Derryl Murphy, whose stories are really sticking with me, and Helen Marshall’s Hair Side, Flesh Side is receiving high praise and is right up my alley; stories about skin in one way or the other.
5) Do you do any other creative work (music, visual arts, etc)?
I do Bellydance, make beaded jewellery in necklaces and watchesa and from time to time I create something in the sculptural realm, such as fairy wings, a garden slug out of glass studio castoffs or a six-foot pomegranate.
6) What is the latest big discovery in your life? (art, music, lifestyle, whatever?) I love travelling but sometimes we become complacent. However, I’ve discovered that while I like to be around people in a bar, or at a dance, I don’t like to be around them in the swarms of big cities. I’m going to Europe this fall and hoping to park myself for a few days near Nantes, birthplace of Jules Verne and creative center of the Machines de L’ile where 30-foot divers and mechanical elephants have been seen to roam. This type of elaborate street theatre warms my heart. It takes a bit to save up for European travel but I’ve decided that ever two years I won’t jaunt around N. America but see more of the world and its fantastic, elaborate history.
I did discover that after taking photos in the cemeteries of Cuba, Ireland and Montreal that there is a rich sense of evolution, history and reverence to be found there and I think this fall when I travel to Europe I’ll try to see what tales I can learn there as well.
7) Basic old biographical details? (family, work, why do all writers seem to have two cats, etc?)
I actually have only one cat though I used to have two. I think it’s because writers are selfish with our time and dogs need to be walked, taking us away from our computers. Whereas cats can sit in our laps or be draped across our wrists while we’re writing. But I know writers with dogs so there are always exceptions. My two BFAs are in Creative Writing and Design (Photography). I do freelance copyediting and actually enjoy it. I live in Vancouver, BC and enjoy the weather except when the gills start to grow.
I’ve published more than a hundred poems and short fiction and have other pieces coming out this year in Chilling Tales 2, Irony of Survival, Bull Spec, Cemetery Dance, ReadShortFiction.com, Artifacts & Relics and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. Check out Bibliotheca Fantastica and Demonologia Biblica (two different books about books) for current fiction out this year.
